Both Sides Would 'End Medicare As We Know It'

[Geee]

American Thinker:

It's a classic example of political rhetoric intended to cloud reality. Explaining why the most recent Medicare trustee report shows the system going bankrupt in thirteen years (five years earlier than predicted last year), Barack Obama's Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner explained the alarming update was the result of, "technical changes in the economic assumptions underlying the projections." That's the delicate way for a politician to say, "We were counting on our economic policies actually working, but as you all know, they haven't."

And while that provides yet another indictment of Obamanomics for conservatives to present in the courtroom of public opinion, the most concerning part remains the fragility of a healthcare system that is being relied upon by millions of elderly Americans -- and is being counted on by millions more who are nearing the Medicare eligibility age. That is why now more than ever it is incumbent upon our leadership to have an honest debate about the future of the system.

No American should naively assume that there is one easy, pragmatic answer to solving the Medicare crisis. Additionally, no American should naively assume that putting the issue off until one such answer emerges is a prudent approach. The biggest danger to our seniors is not Paul Ryan and the Republicans who are proposing changes to save the system. Nor is it Democrats who might do the same.

Right now, the gravest threat Medicare faces is the self-serving politician who champions complacency towards the issue with shameless demagoguery condemning any reform proposals as too big, too dramatic, too risky, and endangering the stability of the system. Take Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who has been in re-runs in virtually every television interview she's given on the subject.